Walking and Working in Unity

Walking and Working Together
Ephesians 4:1-6
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. 2 with all lowliness, and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you are called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
V.1 “I, therefore” In these two words we finds not only Paul’s authority, but ours as well, to spread the gospel. Therefore, since God has provided salvation and we have our testimonies, and are given full liberty to use all the means to spread the gospel, through the grace of God. If a company achieves success it may want to guard its secrets of success from the rest of the business world. We as Christians, having obtained life everlasting, are required by the joy that is in us to spread the good news to the world. I use require for I feel that if you are born again and the joy of the Lord is in you, that joy can not help but come out. We are driven to spread the gospel, by the fact that we are saved.
“the prisoner of the Lord,” Paul seems to rejoice in his imprisonment, as though it were a badge of honor. The world sees imprisonment as a shameful thing, and that you are removed from society for you are no longer able to function by societies rules. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, or fearful of the results of doing the work of the Lord. I am sure that he did consider that he could be imprisoned for what he was saying, but he saw that if he put forth the gospel of Christ, that perhaps even one would be persuaded to accept Jesus as their savoir. We are to fear God more than public opinion when spreading the gospel. I have met with ridicule and men who would get angry that I would even suggest that they were in need of a savior. Paul also knew that if imprisoned for Christ than others would see the lengths that he was willing to go through to get the message of salvation to others. I feel that obedience to the will of God is the greatest offering we can give to God. In that way other may see that the gospel of Christ is real in our lives, even to the point of death.
In the former Soviet Union, a group of believers had gathered to worship together. Their service was interrupted by soldiers entering their church and standing before them. They said that anyone not willing to die for their faith should leave now. Several people headed for the doors and windows, while a few remained. The soldiers than laid down theirs weapons, called them brothers and sat down to worship with them. This story has been passed down by word of mouth and I may not have gotten it correct, but I wanted to stress the willingness we are to have to spread the gospel of Christ.
“walk worthy of the calling” A person is known by their trade or calling. You meet a few people who are just born to do a certain job. Over the years they perfect their skills at that job, and work hard to receive the benefits of that trade. Without care, attention, and hard work, he knows that he will not enjoy all the benefits that trade has to offer.
So we are called out of our old lives to the salvation we have received in Christ, and we are to walk worthy of that calling. By studying God’s word, prayer, and spreading the good news, we are practicing the calling or trade that God has called us to. If we do not practice the calling how can we expect to receive the full benefits of the salvation we have received. It’s not God’s intention to save us and leave us till the time of our death or the rapture of the church, but that we should have a healthy relationship with Him and fellow believers. That we should work diligently at the Christian life, that we would be a shining example to the world, that others would come to Christ.
V.2 Paul does not give us our marching orders without giving us the means by which we are to accomplish them. Lowliness, is walking in submission to God, and walking in humility. We are not to think of ourselves to highly, for God deals with pride.
Walking in gentleness is acting the opposite of acting in anger. Anger is not the sin but reacting out of that anger could be. Acting with longsuffering to trials or provocation will help us to control that anger. If we take the time to think and pray, through these situations, it will help us to respond in a way that honors God. Paul, being imprisoned for preaching the word, could have acted in anger towards God, and those who imprisoned him. By acting in gentleness he became a witness to the peace and love of God, and even while imprisoned, was able to lead others to Christ.
By bearing one another’s burdens, out of love for them as a brother or sister in Christ, or even for a non-believer, we are walking worthy to the call as Christians. What a marvelous statement it would be if we told another, suffering in whatever trial comes their way that you would pray for them but what else can I do for you. Christianity is going the extra mile for another. Indeed we are to pray for another, but when you pray, do not be surprised if God chooses you as the instrument in which He will bring the answer.
V. 3, 4 The church is made up of different personalities and people from different backgrounds. There are also two groups, one likes the way things have always been done and another who feels God moving in a new way. Who is right and who is wrong? We must work as a unit through the unity of the Spirit to the common mission of the church, to spread the gospel to the world, if the church can take the unique personalities and gifts of each believer and use them for the good of the church, than the church would accomplish the will of the Father. This peace is only obtainable through a life that is centered not on the will of the people, but upon the will of the Father. By walking as Paul directs in verse two, we would see a considerable change in the church.
The following several stories are examples of unity.
During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp.
When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ's commands. Then they came together. Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, "What did you do then?" "We were just one," he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred.
When love prevails among believers, especially in times of strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true follower of Jesus Christ.
Our Daily Bread, October 4, 1992.
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn't. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus.
"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they're nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?" Charles Schultz.
There are two ways of being united -- one is by being frozen together, and the other is by being melted together. What Christians need is to be united in brotherly love, and then they may expect to have power. Moody's Anecdotes, p. 53.
Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Native American warriors on horses, dressed for battle. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, "What are we going to do?" Tonto replied, "What you mean 'we,' Whiteman?" Edward Dobson, In Search of Unity, p. 20-27.
There can be union without unity: tie two cats together by their tails and throw them over a clothesline. Source Unknown.
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.
Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. Vesta Kelly.
There is one Body, and one Spirit uniting all believers by Christ, each gifted to walk as one, working for the will of the Father, this unity in unobtainable, without the Spirit of God, and us surrendering our will for the will of the Father. For we all have the same hope, the hope of eternal life in heaven with the Father, under the leadership of the Son.
V.5, 6 We have one Lord and governor of the church, Jesus Christ. There is one faith, the hope of our redemption, to God, through Jesus Christ. There is one Baptism administered in the name of the Holy Trinity, as an act of declaration of faith.
There is one God, Father of all, eternal and creator of all that is. He is King of kings and Lord of lords, providing for all creatures, and working through all creation. By the energy of the Spirit is in all, enlightening, quickening, purifying, and comforting, making our hearts the temple of the Holy Ghost.